Centorea Falls in Love with a Girl
by fudgehogs
Summary: Not a story of how Centorea falls in love, exactly, but how she tells Kimihito about it.


It was a gradual thing.

Which was probably the funniest part about it, as her previous love hadn't really been gradual at all, so much as an immediate keelhaul into an entirely new lifestyle. And she didn't regret that, at all, never! It had been a glorious few years and she wouldn't be abandoning it, not at all!

But it was time to move on. In a way, at least.

Obviously, this decision was not an easy one. It took time and self-reflection and more than one bout of crying privately in her room but once Centorea had steeled herself for the difficult discussion with Master, there came the even MORE difficult period of waiting for some alone time with him. You didn't really notice how many homestays they really had, she mused, until you had something urgent and came to the conclusion that there were _far _too many people in their house, all wanting (to at least some degree) Master's attention.

Finally, though, she got Master by himself, pointing out that it was her turn to go on an errand with him, to which everyone acquiesced (Miia was the only problem area at this point, honestly), and they left the house together, Centorea very careful to leave a couple feet of space between them at all times.

They walked in a comfortable silence for about halfway there, Master swinging his reusable shopping bag at his side, Centorea folding her arms under her chest nervously, focusing very hard on not fidgeting at all. She needed to find the perfect location to introduce this discussion

The twosome entered a side-street with no one else on it and very abruptly, she made her decision. Swinging dramatically to face Master, who had stopped, knees slightly bent and hands twitching, eyes darting from her face to around in search of danger.

"Master! I have something important to tell you!" This was punctuated with the stomp of a hoof, almost unknowingly.

"Ye-yeah?"

Here she paused, words building in her throat as she blushed. "I-I-I I HAVE FALLEN IN LOVE WITH A GIRL!"

Master blanched immediately, a visible shiver going up his spine. "Like, one of the other homestay-"

This time, it was Centorea's turn to go abruptly pale. "Nonono-NEVER!"

Master breathed a sigh of relief immediately. "Good, that feels like it would only be a disaster." He straightened up, a more serious expression coming over his face. "So, you…met a girl?" The end of the sentence was a drawn-out sound, lilting up very curiously.

Centorea blushed again, covering her face with her hands. "Yes, I met a girl. Her name is Benny, and she's a history major. She's attending college right now to get her master's degree, and- "

She paused at Master's hand, held up to stop her from speaking. He looked at her for a second and then looked away, blushing. "Soooo, does she want to come live with us too, or?"

The centaur shook her head immediately, almost violently. "Nono, that's- that's not what this is either- I, well, I." She turned away from him, dropping her head down.

They began to walk again, slowly, and Centorea considered her words carefully. "Master, I- I-." She paused and took a deep breath. "When I met you, all I knew is that I had to find a master as soon as I could, or my mother would drag me back home to breed one of the other male centaurs. And-and-and I know that turned out not to be the case, but I-I-I was trying to avoid that at all costs, and so when I met you, I was happy, because you were a good person and kind, and- ". Her head snapped up and she clip-clopped in front of him, making sure to make eye-contact. "I will NEVER regret coming to stay with you, ever, this has been the happiest time of my life, but- Master I realized after meeting Benny that I'm not in love with you the way I was when I met you." There was a longer pause here, and when Centorea spoke it was with a voice that was almost full of tears. "I don't know. If I ever was really in love with you. Or if I just thought I was. Because I thought I should be."

After she finished, Centorea stared at the ground, winding her arms around herself. Master said nothing.

They both simply stood there, a light spring breeze blowing through. Distantly, the sound of the market could be heard.

It was a very nice evening.

After what could have either been several seconds or several hours, she heard her Master's voice.

"Centorea, it's okay."

Slowly, slowly her chin rose.

"It's okay. It's really okay. I. I understand." Master was smiling a small wobbly smile at her, and he reached out his hand and rested it on her shoulder.

Tears instantly spilled over, and Centorea sobbed, gasping out words in-between. "Thank you- thank you, I'm so _sorry_."

Master shook his head. "There's nothing to be sorry about."

This just prompted further sobs, and Centorea dropped to her knees to pull Master to her, hugging him tightly around the waist. He slowly put his arms around her and patted her gently on the back.

"It's okay. It's really okay."

Eventually, her tears slowed, then stopped, and after a couple seconds of just breathing she pushed up and away from Master, who let his arms fall as he looked up at her.

After a second, he asked "Are you okay?" in a soft, halting voice.

She nodded, gently rubbing at her eyes with one hand. "Yes. Yes, I am okay. Thank you."

"Okay."

Together, without saying anything, they resumed their walk to the store. After a couple minutes, Centorea said in a quiet voice. "I would appreciate being able to continue living with you, for at least the time being."

Master immediately got flustered, turning towards her and frantically waving his arms. "Of course you can, Cerea! I wouldn't- I'd never kick you out! You can stay with me as long as you like!"

She smiled. "Thank you, Master."

They kept walking, the silence from the beginning of the walk welling calmly between them, before Master broke it.

"Hey, Centorea?"

She smiled at him. "Yes?"

The words were slightly hesitant. "Maybe…maybe you shouldn't call me 'Master', anymore."

Centorea tilted her head, consideringly. "Yes, I think you're right…Kimihito."

The word sounded in the air, like the end of an era. It wasn't a bad sound.

The walk to the store continued on from there, both of them quiet for a few minutes before beginning a light conversation about something silly Papi and Suu had done the previous day.

It was comfortable, and Centorea almost swore she could feel her shoulders getting lighter.

The visit to the store went fine, and on the way home Kimihito turned to Centorea, waving his hand a bit. "Also, Cerea, you should…bring, what-was-her-name-BENNY you should bring Benny by the house sometime. So, I can make sure that she's…good enough for you."

Centorea blushed, before tilting her head and smiling. "I will."

And they continued on their way.


End file.
